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When miniatures pack a flavour punch!

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There are tasting menus. The chefs carefully select their best dishes and make small portions of them for you to taste many dishes. You get an idea of all that the chef wants you to taste. More often than not, this is a wonderful way to experience a restaurant and it's chef. And almost always, these dishes are smaller portions of a full dish.

And then there is Gaggan's tasting menu. Where the menu is given to you AFTER you finish your meal. Where the sneek peek menu is pictorial and with emojis. There are 25 courses. You have no idea what you are getting. When dishes arrive you are told some of the ingredients. You are asked to guess the rest. Your mouth and tongue do the thinking while your brain is holidaying in some la-la land.

What stands out? The dishes may be miniatures, but the satiety is same as a plateful. It is almost as if a plateful of a dish was taken and the size alone shrunk. One bite gave the feeling of eating a full plate. Instead of craving for more, the brain was eagerly waiting for the next dish. We were guessing what the next would be and how it would be presented. And doing it 25 times did not tire the brain. For most of the dishes, you are given no cutlery. For one course, there is no way to even pick up the dish. You have to lick it, with some background music.

Chef Gaggan is simply a genius. Not just an artist with plating, not just a chef with flavours, but a genius for putting together an experience like this. He got to being Asia's No 1 and Michelin did itslef a favour and has awarded him 2 stars. It's like Gaggan adds more value to Michelin than the other way around.

I am not going to give away all the dishes, only a few. You have to experience it yourself.

Yes, lick it up.

Prawn head that is then filled with Tom Yum Ice cream.

The following was a stunner among other stunners. A tiny cup cake with froth on top. This was a full blown idly with sambar and podi. Nothing less. Possibly the softest idly on the planet, as soon as you bite, podi magically explodes and fills your mouth aided by the sambar froth that has probably guided the flavours to all parts of the tongue.

If I had to pick ONE dish that stood out among the other stunners, it had to be this. The golden colour is the colour of the plate. The little white blob is the curry. Yes, curry. You smear it on the scallops and the bite will take you back to Kerala. Full flavour of a coconut gravy and the scallops beautifully replaces what would have been fish in Kerala.

Lamb Seekh Kebab with the leaf being the Mango Chutney.

Four courses of dessert. Roses made of beetroot. A take on the beetroot halwa.

While there were stunners, there was not a single dud dish. When 3 Indians are eating 25 courses of mostly Indian dishes and to not be able to nitpick a single dish, for me was astounding.

You will need to make reservations a month in advance to get in. The meal will set you back by 5850 Thai bhat (including taxes) and will be worth every penny. The restaurant closes in 2020, so you have about 2 years to experience Gaggan.